TORONTO, Nov. 28, 2012 /CNW/ - TheOntario Convenience Stores Association announced today it was pleased
that Toronto City Council has decided to withdraw its controversial
plastic bag by-law, which was set to go into effect January 1, 2013.

While the OCSA is still studying the impact of the Council decision and
the resolutions it passed today, members were grateful Toronto City
Council reconsidered its plastic bag by-law in light of the evidence
that was presented. OCSA legal counsel Eric S. Block and Ronald Podolny
of McCarthy Tétrault LLP commend the professionalism and integrity of
the City of Toronto's legal staff in their handling of this matter.

"This is a good day for small businesses in Toronto and we commend
Toronto City Council for their thoughtful reconsideration of this
by-law and the impact it would have had on convenience stores" said
Dave Bryans, CEO of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association. "By
selectively prohibiting merchants from providing certain types of
plastic bags, shoppers would have been less likely to make purchases
and that would have hit Toronto's small, family run convenience stores
the hardest."

Lawyers representing the OCSA will be conferring with City legal staff
in the coming days to discuss next steps in resolving the legal
application that had been issued against the City earlier this month.
OCSA will not be providing any further public comment until those
discussions are complete.

About OCSA

The Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) represents convenience
stores throughout the province that are committed to Responsible
Community Retailing. The OCSA membership comprises nearly 7,500 of the
11,000 convenience stores in Ontario. The convenience store industry
represents $13 billion in sales annually in Ontario and employs over
69,000 people. More than 3 million people visit convenience stores in
communities across Ontario every day.